Green Growth Generation

Project

295186

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS: existing completed examples

Project title

Green Growth Generation

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Description

Green Growth Generation, an Accelerator for Communities on Sustainability promotes inclusion, giving the opportunity to grow together to communities that joined the platform. Green Growth Generation applies a participatory and circular approach to assess the needs of the communities and to develop solutions based on community troubleshooting and implement projects, products and processes by integrating expertise from business, art and education.

What was the geographical scope of your project?

Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations?

Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?

Has your project won an EU prize?

Your project is fully completed?

When was your project implemented?

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes ?

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?

Please provide a summary of your project

GreenGrowthGeneration, an Accelerator for Communities on Sustainability, promotes inclusion, giving the opportunity to grow together to communities that joined the platform.

Green Growth Generation means thinking globally and acting locally to preserve the environment, to support healthy, fair and green consumption, and to develop skills based on a sustainable lifestyle.  Green Growth Generation applies a participatory and circular approach that aims to develop solutions based on community troubleshooting and implement projects, products and processes by integrating expertise from business, art and education. As a Community accelerator it has three pillars: Food and Sustainable Agriculture; Sustainable Consumption; Art, Education and Culture. The Community can belong to one category or to all of three at once. During the accelerator program the journey can start in one of the categories and it can develop activities and projects that belong to others.  The quality and style of the experience are ensured by the GreenGrowth Process through the Evaluation and the Selection of the Community Project and the match with a Community Expert. GreenGrowthGeneration guarantees that anyone who joins the platform embraces the same values and vision to make a positive impact on the community they belong to. This contributes to providing a high quality of experience of the Accelerator Journey.

In November 2021 we launched in Lebanon the Farmer Community Accelerato. Out of twelve potential Farms, 6 of them joined the first step of the development process. The development process consists of 3 phases: a need assessment and field visit; technical assistance and business plan; financial support with a tailor-made approach following the circular economy (optimized production, access to clean energy; upgraded water irrigation system; organic composting; optimized of waste management; facilitated access to an organic supply chain with fair prices; increase the market channel)

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability (including circularity) and how these have been met.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

The key objectives in terms of sustainability (including circularity) are the following:

• The Farmer Community in the phase of co-design the services to reach out sustainability (including circularity) highlighted the needs and the interest to have access to a sustainable short supply chain (organic inputs from local producers, organic compost, integrated and efficient technology); to increase the farmer’s selling channel and their interest to reduce their impact on the environment optimizing their production process; access to exporting market in EU Countries.

•  The development of a GreenGrowthGeneration physical hub based on the use of sustainable material, following a systemic design and circular use of the products needed to build the structure (gardening area, recyclable construction material, efficient use of the light and the energy needed). The area will allow the Community Member to participate and to co-design projects and process, the area is opened as well to the Communities that are part of the Accelerator Process, in order to exchange opinion and increase the learning process and the face the common challenges together applying ecological, resilient and environmental sustainable approaches.
• The development of products based on sustainability and circularity: for example food items; products produced out of upcycling process (clothes, eco-friendly bag, water bottle); upcycled furniture and sustainable products.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

The key objectives in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience are the following:

• Provide to the Community Member (Community Experts and Technical Advisors) an aesthetics and quality of experience. Being part of the online platform of experts in different pillars related to Sustainability (Food & Sustainable Agriculture, Nutrition, Sustainable Consumption, Energy, Bio-Architecture, Business Development, Communication, Education, Psychology, Social Design, Community and Partnership development, Donor Management, …) ensures to the members to enjoy the aesthetics and quality of experience, sharing knowledge and expertise during their journey within GreenGrowth Community empowerment.
• Provide to the Communities (communities that start the acceleration program) an aesthetics and quality of experience. The methodological approach allow the community that join the accelerator program, to have a systematic and standard toolkit that lead the development and the identification of the needs and challenges at community level, the community expert support the community to develop common solutions and activities or services needed to boost environmental social and economic sustainability for the community. 
• Provide to the Partners part of GreenGrowthGeneration ecosystem an aesthetics and quality of experience. This is possible thanks to the possibility of becoming part of an online network among institutions (INGO, NGO, association, University, Research Center, Eco-friendly Company, B-Corp) that have the same values and ambitions to build a better world in terms of social impact, environmental and economic sustainability; and that are part of different socio-economic context. The network between the partners that are part of different Countries or different areas of the same Country (north-sud or urban-rural synergies) will boost the development of co-design projects and activities within the same framework and shared mission, ensuring a long term impact.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (equal opportunities, public participation, citizen engagement, co-design, universal design, accessibility, affordability, etc.) and how these have been met.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

The key objectives in terms of inclusion are the following:

• The Community Member engagement and career development path ensure equal opportunities between man and women in terms of equal payment and equal access to the decision making process; 
• The public participation and the citizen engagement is part of our strategy, the concrete example is how the Farmer Community was developed and co-designed with the Community Members (Farmers and Key Stakeholders part of the Short Supply Chain); The Farmers were at the center of the design of the process and the services to be developed in their own empowerment.
• The Universal design is ensured if we consider that the methodology developed at local level can be applied at universal level if we consider the Community Toolkit at the usage of different socio-cultural context; 
• The co-design is part of our acceleration program. The research process is developed in 3 phases: Community Evaluation., Project and Program Selection (Food & Sustainable Agriculture; Sustainable Consumption; Art, Education & Culture); Acceleration Plan. Once the Acceleration Plan is developed the community is part of the improvement or of the adjustment of the acceleration plan that have to be run in the following 6 months in order to define single and community objectives in a tailor made approach: Need Assessment, Technical and Financial Support.
• The accessibility is ensured by the presence of different community member experts; different community projects; different stakeholders and partners. Each of them, if they share the GreenGrowth vision and mission can easily become part of the co-creation process and play a specific and essential role for the success of our actions. This mix makes open and inclusive the involvement of each player in order to develop creative and out of the box solutions applicable to concrete challenges and community needs.

Please explain how these three dimensions have been combined in your project.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary

The three dimensions have been combined intrinsically in GreenGrowthGeneration mission and long term strategy. The sustainability and circularity, the aesthetics and quality of experience, the inclusion are core values and elements of GreenGrowth methodology to engage Community to join the platform, to include the community experts, to reach out strategic partners. Green Growth educates and equipes communities to become sustainable and to develop the skills to manage the green transition with the use of clean energy and other opportunities. The Community Accelerator allows the collaboration and the sharing of experiences, knowledge and expertise. Sustainability permeates the methodological approach of engaging communities; the community acceleration process allows the community to empower themselves thanks to multidisciplinary troubleshooting and solution-driven approach.

In Lebanon, the three dimensions are visible in the connection created within the farmer community that connect local farmers, consumers, organic suppliers and restaurants or bookshops that are keen to become part of greengrowth using local products and imìncrease the domino effect.

In Italy, the three dimensions are visible in the connection created within the educational program launched through our online communication platform that connects best practices that belong to sustainable agriculture, sustainable consumption, art out of recyclable material, sustainable architecture, innovative ideas and projects all around the world.

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

The category we are applying for is “Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking”. 

In 6 months of research and development we achieved the following results and impact:

• One online platform under development that will allow experts, community projects and partners to exchange ideas, projects, best practices and economical resources.
• 6 Farmers Joined the first batch of the Farmer Community Accelerator, they played an active role in the co-design phase to define and set up the accelerator steps and services to put in place at the service of the community they belong to.
• 25 new Farmers are in our actual pipeline to start the Second batch of the Farmer Community Accelerator, based on word of mouth and based on the experiences gained with the first farmer batch.
• More than 20 lebanese suppliers are under evaluation to provide a better product or service for our Farmer Community
• More than 25 Lebanese Institutions are under negotiation in order to join our eco-system and play an active role within the stakeholder roadmap. 
• More than 20 European Institutions are under negotiation in order to join our ecosystem and play an active role within the stakeholder roadmap. Until now we are glad to have signed a strategic partnership with Torino Social Impact, Agenzia Nazionale Giovani (ANG) and New European Bauhaus (NEB).
• GreenGrowth Community team members count 6 experts with complementary expertise: architecture, communication, engineering, agroecology and sustainability.
• GreenGrowth Community advisors count more than 30 experts committed with our mission ready to support and provide insight based on community projects in pipeline and based on their own vertical expertise.

Please explain how citizens and civil society were involved in the in the design and/or implementation of the project.
Please also explain the benefits that derived from their involvement.

The citizens and the civil society were involved in the design and in the implementation of the project  since his ideation (from the research of the field until the definition of the strategic steps and processes until its own implementation). GreenGrowth team for the Farmer Community accelerator worked on the field including in the design and in the implementation of the projects: consumers, farmers, suppliers and external experts. The different Community toolkits (survey, process steps, timeframe and services needed at community level) were co-designed with all the mentioned stakeholders. The direct benefit is the engagement of the farmers within the community, their commitment in reaching the best results with the implementation of basic steps and their willingness to plan in the long term a paradigm shift as an aware and conscious member of this community. 

The platform as well were co-designed from different community experts with a continuous improvement and fact checking with the final users (farmers, community, experts, partners). In this phase we are keeping working on the development of a better online and integrated service for our users and for our audience. 

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addressed by providing local solutions

GreenGrowthGeneration addresses global challenges by providing local solutions. The SDGs that have direct impact are the following: 

• Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and communities - "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable"
• Goal 12 - Responsible consumption and production - "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns"
• Goal 4 - Quality Education - “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all";
• Goal 8 - Decent work and Economic growth - “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”
• Goal 13 - Climate Action - "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy" 
• Goal 17 - Partnership for the goals - "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development"

The decision to launch and validate the Farmer Community Accelerator in Lebanon, as socio-economic context very complex, is indeed a strategic decision to highlight the necessity to support communities that have been facing issue to have access to the basic needs (access to clean water, energy and certification) to develop their own natural or organic products. The goal of our actions is to reduce inequalities and distance between Lebanese context and European reality. This bridge will support, inspire and accelerate the green transition of emergent context.

 

As an indirect impact of our action related to growth communities within the environmental, social and economic sustainability, we can highlight the other global challenges that are addressed by GreenGrowthGeneration. Goal 2 - Zero hunger; Goal 5 - Gender equality; Goal 7 - Affordable and clean energy; Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Goal 10: Reduced inequality; Goal 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions.

Please highlight the innovative character of the project as compared to mainstream practices in the field of the project.

The innovative character of GreenGrowthGeneration platform is the concept itself as Community Accelerator on Sustainability and Circular economy. GreenGrowthGeneration is the first Community Accelerator for Communities, on Circular economy. Our unique value is the scalability of the model and the methodology tested. The Farmer Community Accelerator was launched in November and with less than 1500$ we developed the first phase (need assessment and farm visit) engaging 6 farms (out of 12 potential candidates) and with the expertises of two Lebanese engineers that have been working on the field for three months. Once the method is validated, this approach can be applied to other communities that belong to other value chains or to communities that are belonging to other geographical areas. Our business model reflects the same of Accelerator for Startups or for Entrepreneurs, in our case our target are communities that belong to a specific value chain or to a specific geographical area.

Please explain to the potential of transferring the projects’ results or learnings to other interested parties and contexts.
Please provide clear documentation, communication of methodology and principles in this context.

The potential of transferring the projects’ result or learnings to other interested parties and contexts is at the basis of GreenGrowthGeneration Platform. The GreenGrowthGeneration accelerator validated the methodological approach of a 3 months process before launching the acceleration plan. The accelerator consists of 3 steps: research and scouting of the community project to work on; project and program selection (choice between Food & Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Consumption, Art, Education and Culture applied to Circular Economy); development of an acceleration plan. The Acceleration Development Plan for the pilot in Lebanon has been concretized into the Farmer Community Accelerator (belonging to the Food & Sustainable agriculture) that aims to accelerate local producers in 6 months, providing them need assessment, a business development plan and financial support to boost their own business.

At the same time, GreenGrowthGeneration platform itself fosters a synergic system between experts from different socio-cultural contexts all around the world that aims to develop sustainable projects between communities that belong to different socio-cultural and economic contexts. Sharing knowledge and expertises, having an open approach is essential in order to become part of GreenGrowth Family. The Community Expert ensure a quality to the good results of the projects because they pass themselves through an evaluation process of 3 months, so they are monitored based on their own ability to build and empower the GreenGrowth Community, their ability to engage new members that can support our organization, their attitude to become an ambassador of GreenGrowth mission and strategy and reach out new Communities and new areas.

Is an evaluation report or any relevant documentation available?

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